


Layers, Cells, Constellations

by BlossomsintheMist



Category: Iron Man (Comic), Marvel 616
Genre: Canon Compliant, Explicit Sexual Content, Feel Good Sex, Hand Jobs, M/M, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:57:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlossomsintheMist/pseuds/BlossomsintheMist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The sun isn’t coming up yet,” Tony said, “what are you even talking about?  Late?”</p><p>Rhodey laughed.</p><p>“I was going to say,” Tony said, and took a deep breath, licked his dry lips, and leaned in.  He put one hand on Rhodey’s chest, and then kissed him.</p><p>(Set during Stark Resilient, canon-compliant missing scene.  But with more sex.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Layers, Cells, Constellations

**Author's Note:**

> Title from a quote from Anais Nin: “We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.” 
> 
> This fic owes a heavy, heavy debt to a conversation I had with [pottsresilient](http://pottsresilient.tumblr.com/). I couldn't get it out of my head . . . and thus this fic resulted, remixed and reshaken, but definitely owing a heavy debt.

 

“So,” Tony said, and suddenly his own voice sounded loud in the small dark room.  He felt jumpy, he’d just downed a whole cup of coffee and he could feel it in his bloodstream, the caffeinated rush, almost jittery, on top of the lack of sleep, the exhilaration of having a plan to get at whatever was behind Stane and Detroit Steel and the Hammers, having announced the project to the team.

 

Rhodey looked up from where he’d been watching the videos, apparently determined to find a better resolution shot of the woman Tony was sure was the Hammer girl, as if to prove to himself that Tony was right, with a bit of a jump, like Tony’s voice had startled him a little.  “Yeah, man?” he said.

 

“I think we’ve got about as far as we can tonight,” Tony said.  “Planning-wise.  Rehashing it further . . . is it really gonna help at all?”  Or would it just make him more nervous?  A party to draw out the Hammers, yeah, he could do that. Hypothetically—he hadn’t done the schmoozing thing since he’d been back.  Who knew if he still had the touch or not.  But Rhodey didn’t need to know that.

 

Rhodey had been . . . here, and he was so . . . just, he was the only one who didn’t seem to have a beef with Tony, the only one who wasn’t acting weird.  Like a rock.  Or an Iron Man, Tony thought, they both knew who the stronger, steadier one was out of the two of them.

 

“Maybe so,” Rhodey said, pushing back in his chair and stretching a little.  “Jeez, is that the time?”  He grinned.  “And here I thought it was late before I came in here.  You’re a bad influence, T.”  He didn’t sound like he minded, and for that alone Tony could have kissed him.

 

“The sun isn’t coming up yet,” Tony said, “what are you even talking about?  Late?”

 

Rhodey laughed.

 

“I was going to say,” Tony said, and took a deep breath, licked his dry lips, and leaned in.  He put one hand on Rhodey’s chest, and then he did kiss him.

 

They’d done it before, of course, but not . . . not for a while.  And the last couple of times . . . after Tony’s problems with his spine, for example, Tony had felt like it was for him, that Rhodey was trying to help him out.  It wasn’t like this wasn’t for him, either, because he was sure as hell going to enjoy it, but . . . .

 

He wanted to do something for Rhodey this time.

 

“What the—” Rhodey started, and then Tony’s lips were on his, soft and coaxing, and Rhodey went quiet.  His hands came up to hover at Tony’s shoulders, just for a second, then settled onto them, gripping more tightly and pulling Tony in close, as Tony worried softly at his lower lip, slid his tongue over it and licked his way slowly into Rhodey’s warm mouth.  Tony moved more fully into Rhodey’s space, climbing into his chair to straddle him and bracing both hands on the back of it.  Rhodey gasped, his lips parting, mouth giving way for Tony, and he leaned up, into it, taking hold of Tony’s shoulders even more firmly, and that was all the encouragement Tony needed.  He groaned a little, he couldn’t help it, how brokenly eager it sounded, and pressed closer into the kissing, putting everything he had into it and memorizing the touch and flutter of Rhodey’s tongue, the heat of his mouth, the chapped roughness of his lips, the heat and solidity of his body beneath his.  He hadn’t realized until Rhodey’s arms went fully around him, tugging him down more solidly over his thighs, how he’d been half-expecting to be pushed away—how good it felt to be pulled closer, the eager, willing heat of that response.

 

Tony moaned again, just at the feeling of it, and closed his eyes, letting himself concentrate on the kiss, the smell of Rhodey’s aftershave and deodorant and the smell of his body, the familiar feeling of him, the way he kissed, steadying, promising nothing too extravagant, simply presence and warmth, like he was bringing Tony back down to earth, like a grounding element, his fingers digging into Tony’s shoulders, against his back.

 

The kiss lasted a long time, ebbing and flowing between each other’s mouths, Rhodey curling his tongue into Tony’s mouth, exploring slow and careful, before Tony turned it back on him again, until he was breathless and reeling and Rhodey’s hands on him were really coming in handy in the not sliding off the chair and braining himself on the table department.  Warmth pooled in his chest, in the core of him, made him dizzy, and when he pulled away, he was panting with it.  He slid back off of Rhodey, wobbled on his feet, but that wasn’t a big deal, he wasn’t planning to spend much time on them—he sank to his knees between Rhodey’s legs, and maybe his hands were trembling just a little as he skimmed them up his thighs, but then, he was dizzy.

 

“Hey, hold on, man,” Rhodey said, sitting up a little, and he sounded breathless, too, wrecked.  He rubbed one hand against his forehead, reached out, settled both of them on Tony’s shoulders, and his eyes were so concerned, dark with it.  “Are you okay?  What brought this on?  What’s up?”

 

“Nothing,” Tony said, as brightly and breezily as he could.  “I just wanted to blow you.”

 

Rhodey swallowed, his throat working, opened his mouth and closed it again.

 

“Can I?” Tony asked.  “Is that good with you?  You don’t mind?”  _Please_ , he thought, and he didn’t really want to examine how desperate that thought felt, _just let me do this for you, it’ll be so good, I promise, it’ll be great, you want it, right?_

 

If he was fucking up what he had with Rhodey, too, he didn’t even know what he was going to do.

 

“Mind, I . . .” Rhodey sounded baffled.  “No, of course not, I just . . . kind of out of nowhere, Tone.”

 

“But it’d be good, right?” Tony said.  “I mean, we’ve done this before.  Yeah?”

 

Rhodey looked at him another moment, eyes still dark and measuring, then he reached down, rubbed one hand against Tony’s forearm, swallowed.  “Yeah,” he said.  “We have.  It does . . . it sounds good.  You sure you want to?”

 

“More than sure,” Tony said, and he couldn’t help how breathlessly eager he sounded, he really couldn’t.

 

“Then,” Rhodey grinned, and as always, that smile made something leap in Tony’s chest, carefree and just a little reckless, “sure, go to town, tin man.”

 

That was all the encouragement Tony needed.  He grinned back, already reaching for Rhodey’s fly.  Rhodey sat back, let him pull him out of his pants, tug his shorts and pants down a little to give his cock more room, though he groaned low in his chest, arched up a little, as Tony gave him a few loose strokes with one hand.  Memories rose up in the back of Tony’s mind with the feeling of Rhodey’s cock in his hand, the heavy, hot weight of it, and he grinned a little to himself—like riding a bike, he thought, before he leaned in, took the tip of it into his mouth, careful to cover his teeth with his lips, licking them thoroughly beforehand.  Rhodey hissed aloud, and yeah, yeah, he could do this.  Tony settled himself in between Rhodey’s legs, resting one hand on Rhodey’s thigh, holding himself steady, and curling the other around his cock even as he sank down on it, letting his eyes slip half-closed at the hot thickness of it on his tongue, the way he could feel the jump and thud of Rhodey’s pulse in his cock.  He let Rhodey’s cock slide all the way to the back of his throat, hollowed his cheeks around it and sucked, then pulled back to tongue lightly at the head, sucking and playing just at the tip.  Rhodey hissed in a breath, and his hips rolled upward, toward him.  Tony tugged on them, encouraging.  _C’mon, buddy_ , he thought, _c’mon, don’t hold back, fuck my face if you want._   That sounded just about perfect.  He moaned, loud and wanton to his own ears, looking up at Rhodey through heavy-lidded eyes and hoping he got the point.

 

Rhodey just sighed, though, subsiding into the chair, and one hand came down, brushed the hair off Tony’s forehead before skimming over the crown of his head, tangling in his hair, and God, that was good, too, that was . . . that was so good.  Tony felt another wash of that dizzying warmth, and let that gentle hand on his head pull him back down.  He slowed down, let himself concentrate on it, the slow slide of Rhodey’s cock between his lips, the salt tang of his skin and the slick of his precome against his tongue.

 

Rhodey tasted so good, clean and warm and a little salty.  God, this was nice.  Tony rubbed his hand back and forth over Rhodey’s thigh, feeling the warmth and solidity of his muscle under his hand, pulled away from Rhodey’s cock just long enough to nuzzle in against his balls, lick and kiss at them, press kisses down along the inside of his thigh, until Rhodey sighed and let his legs slide even further open, let Tony press him back into the chair with his body.  He just sighed, arched up slightly, one hand coming up to clasp at Tony’s shoulder, the other rubbing at the back of his neck.  There was high color in his face, barely visible in the dim light where it tinged his dark skin, and his eyes were blown wide so that the whites stood out, but his hands didn’t tighten on Tony’s neck or shoulder, just holding him steadily, rubbing in slow, easy movements, letting him lick and nuzzle and explore as slowly as he wanted.  Tony felt warm, all over, loose and easy somehow, and every gentle pass of Rhodey’s hand made him shiver, but not in a bad way, a warm, trembly way, pleasure coiling slow in the pit of his stomach.  He pressed kisses down the length of Rhodey’s cock, mouthed at it slow and wet, and Rhodey’s fingers curled a little more in his hair, tugged him down a little, to a new angle.

 

Tony went willingly, heat washing through him at that, blissful and tingling as Rhodey nudged him gently into where he needed to be, sucking slowly, laving his tongue over him, swirling it around, then pulling off and sinking back down.  He let his eyes slide even closer to being closed, let Rhodey tug him where he wanted him, losing himself in the hot slide in and out of his mouth, the act of working his tongue, hollowing his cheeks, the pleasure in the sounds Rhodey made, the catch and release of his breaths, the little rolling movements of his hips.  Rhodey’s cock was warm and wet with Tony’s saliva now, his own pre-come, and the slide was slow and easy, and Tony settled into it, relaxing, opening his throat so that when Rhodey tugged him forward again, just slightly, he could keep going, just let him slide right past the back of his throat into him.  Rhodey groaned aloud at that, and his hand tightened at the back of Tony’s neck, and that made Tony’s cock jump where it was caught tight in his own pants and straining against his briefs.  He ignored it for now, instead concentrating on holding Rhodey’s cock in his mouth, working his throat around it, nuzzling into the scratchy-soft hair at Rhodey’s groin, the way his chin brushed against his balls, until Rhodey was pulling him back, easing him off, letting him breathe, murmuring to him, “Easy, T, take it easy,” his voice shuddering, jumping and rough.  Tony just moaned in response, letting Rhodey know he was fine, he was just fine, this was just what he wanted, settled his mouth over him again, more shallowly, sucking at him warm and soft, and Rhodey gasped, sighed, let his hips press up again, just for a moment.  Tony went with it, rubbing at his thigh again, sucking slow and easy at his cock, licking beads of precome off the head with easy strokes of his tongue.

 

It was only when Rhodey groaned, tossed his head back against the back of the chair a little, his hand tightening in Tony’s hair again, that Tony remembered his own aching cock, feeling tight and constrained now in his briefs even with his loose sweatpants, and reached down to cup his hand around himself, squeezing and driving the heel of his hand against the heavy, trapped ache of his desire for a moment before he had the presence of mind to tug his pants and briefs down enough to draw out his cock.  He gave himself a few long, easy strokes, but the dizziness it sent through him made it hard to focus, pleasure and blood pounding through his dick with the friction, and Rhodey had to catch at him as he wobbled and slid down further on his cock despite himself.  Tony figured it could wait, so he gave himself one last squeeze, promising himself some more fun later, once he’d had his chance with this.

 

Because God, he’d forgotten how amazing this was, that Rhodey would just let him take his time, not rush him, would let him suck and kiss and tease and nuzzle as long as he wanted, just hold him in his mouth and close his eyes and sit for a while, let him lick and kiss at his balls, and would just rub at the back of his neck or tug at his hair and sometimes, like he was doing now, he’d just link their fingers over his own thigh and hold him there and let Tony just suck on his cock, loose and sloppy, no real technique in his head at the moment, even though he knew how to give one hell of a blowjob, he did, he was just sucking messily at Rhodey now, sliding his cock in and out of his mouth and focusing on the pure motion of it, the warmth, the connection between them in the way it felt to have that weight and heat in his mouth, filling him up, even the puffy, used, wet feeling of his lips. Rhodey didn’t seem to mind that Tony wasn’t putting every trick he had in his repertoire to the task, that he was taking so long, drawing it out like this, that he had plastered himself between his legs; he wasn’t even trying to fuck his mouth, fast and hard.

 

But this was supposed to be for Rhodey, so after a while Tony pulled off, rubbed his cheek against his thigh, gasping for breath.  He turned his face into his thigh, pressed his eyes closed against that warm strong muscle, and after a minute he felt like he could talk again, the words leaving his throat raspy and hoarse.  “You good?” he said.  “Taking too long?”

 

“Nah,” Rhodey said, shaking his head, breathless, a smile on his face when Tony looked up at him, despite the sweaty, trembling tension all through him.  “God, Tony.”

 

Tony grinned back, feeling a little hazy, and rubbed his cheek against Rhodey’s thigh.  “S’ good then?” he said.

 

“Hell yeah,” Rhodey breathed.  He dropped one hand down, let it slide across Tony’s face, thumb slide against his lips, and Tony opened his mouth, sucked that thumb between them, curling his tongue against the pad of it before he let it go.  Rhodey groaned, and his cock twitched, more pre-come welling up.  Tony raised one hand, brushed his thumb over the tip, smearing it over Rhodey’s saliva-slick cock, and Rhodey gasped, groaned, his eyes widening.  Tony slid his thumb around, back and forth, closed his fingers around him and stroked down, then brought it back to his mouth, licking off the slick smear of pre-come with his tongue.  Rhodey gave a low rough noise and grasped at Tony’s head with both hands, his own head falling back as his hips jumped, and Tony let him pull at him, pressing his head into his stomach for a moment, because as far as he was concerned that was a great place to be.  He pressed a kiss to the line of hair up from Rhodey’s groin, pushed the bottom edge of his shirt up with his mouth so he could press soft kisses across his flat stomach muscles, tease at his navel with his tongue.  Rhodey gasped, stomach jumping and trembling under his mouth, and Tony pressed closer, trailing kisses soft and slow over his skin.

 

He stayed there for a long moment, not even sure how long, but a while, caught up in those soft kisses, the feel of Rhodey’s skin, and the way he gasped and shivered under his mouth, before he pulled back again, pressed his mouth to his thigh one more time, rubbing his face there and leaving a kiss in the crease of his hip before he took Rhodey’s cock back into his mouth.  He gave it a little more focus now, concentrating, not trying to rush Rhodey along, but falling into a rhythm, slow and even, pulling the tricks he knew into it now—little curls or flicks of his tongue, twists of his hand or mouth.  He just wanted Rhodey to enjoy this; he wanted it to feel perfect.  When Rhodey’s hand knotted up in his hair again and tugged, he let him reposition him, his mouth sliding easily over his cock, until he was in the new angle and he went back to work happily.  Rhodey’s fingers loosened, stroked gently through his hair, and Tony shivered with the warm pleasure of that.  Rhodey groaned as he gave him a teasing squeeze with his hand, swirling his tongue over the head of his cock at the same time, and Tony winked up at him, just to see Rhodey give an uneven, breathless little laugh.  It ended in a breathless arch and jerk of his hips as Tony sucked more firmly, giving him a long, slow stroke of his mouth down.

 

Tony’s jaw was starting to get sore, aching a little, and he knew he’d feel it the next day, but he didn’t mind, not at all.  Hell, if he went to that party still feeling a little twinge in his jaw and neck from giving Rhodey an hour-long blowjob, he wouldn’t mind that one bit.  It’d be good to feel it a little.  It’d be good to feel _something_ , other than aches and pains from putting himself back together or getting his ass handed to him in the suit, or, what, Asgardian goblins trying to squish his face.  Whatever.  This was the good kind of ache.  For once he didn’t want to think about trying to talk after this with his voice all scratchy and the kind of looks he’d get, didn’t want to care, just wanted to see Rhodey grin a little when his voice came out all rough and know he’d made it like that with his dick.  Simple pleasures.  Like the way Rhodey’s hand felt on the back of his neck, the way he was just lying back for Tony, letting him go to town.  Like he’d said.  Tony felt warm, flushed with that, but in a good way, a really good way.  With how good it was to do something nice and easy and simple for Rhodey for a change, because Rhodey deserved it for everything he did for Tony and Tony never showed him enough, but this made sense, this he could do.

 

Focusing on the slick warm slide of Rhodey’s cock in his mouth, the warmth of his hand curled around Tony’s, steady against him, his fingers stroking through his hair and his gasps and twitches of pleasure, made so much sense, it was so simple, easy and _good_ , and he didn’t need to check in with Rhodey again to know it was good for him, too, he could see it in the way he was panting, thighs trembling now and hips rolling more frequently, the way his booted feet would jerk up and then slam back down against the floor, grinding his heel against the edge of the table at one point.  Tony knew his tells, even though he was quiet (he was always pretty quiet) and he wasn’t pushing, just letting Tony take his time, his eyes wide and fixed on him, and that steady gaze was enough to have Tony’s own cock hot and heavy and full, the way he felt it on the top of his head, on his mouth when he gave a good long suck or swallowed around him, the way Rhodey’s thumb rubbed back and forth over the back of his neck, against his spine.  Rhodey was close, and Tony was going to get him there, he was just taking his time, nudging him there in little increments, slow and easy, because slow and easy was nice, too, right?  Just being close, and enjoying each other, warm, no rush, Rhodey’s hand on the back of his head, cupping the nape of his neck firm and simple.  Tony moved in a little closer, let himself grip Rhodey’s hand like he meant it, warning him a little, curling his fingers in tight, and hollowed his cheeks around Rhodey’s length, sucking hard and stroking his hand up around him, squeezing his balls—he pulled back, almost off, then slid back down and sucked just as hard, and Rhodey groaned and his hands tightened, eyes squeezing shut as he came.

 

Tony pulled back just enough to catch his come in his mouth, swallowing and swallowing, sucking a little more, teasing and soft, until he was sure he was done and Rhodey was sprawled gasping in his chair, staring at Tony like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself, like he was a little surprised, Rhodey got like that after he’d come.  Tony curled his hand around him a little more and tilted his cock up, cleaning it softly with his tongue, gentle and careful, and Rhodey shuddered all over and groaned.

 

“God, T,” he said breathlessly.  “God, I . . .”

 

“Mmm,” Tony said, and pressed a kiss to the base of his cock.

 

“Yeah,” Rhodey said, smiling a little.  “You said it.”  He tugged at Tony’s hand, not letting him disengage, tug his fingers free the way he’d been about to do, was trying to.  “C’mon up here,” he said, and punctuated it with a tug on the back of Tony’s neck.

 

“Um,” Tony said.

 

“Nah, c’mon up here, boss man, you’re not getting away now,” Rhodey said, smiling as he got one hand under Tony’s shoulder and Tony clambered to his feet, awkwardly because okay, hey, he was hard enough to pound nails, because he got the distinct impression that if he didn’t Rhodey was just going to drag him up like a sack of potatoes and plop him on his lap, dignity or no dignity, and Tony had fooled around with Rhodey enough to know that he could do that if he really wanted; he knew little judo tricks and enough about the same things about leverage and angles that Tony knew to get him where he wanted him.  Sure enough, Rhodey grinned at him and tugged him into his lap and Tony went, straddling him again and curling his arms around Rhodey’s shoulders, hopeful of a kiss or two.

 

Rhodey gave them to him, of course, because he was Rhodey, and he was like that, and it was so easy and good with him, pressing them soft and warm into his mouth, curling one arm around his back.  They kissed for a few minutes, before Tony even realized he was rocking back and forth on his knees, just a little, pressing himself against Rhodey’s side, desperate for a little friction on his cock.  He pulled back, stilling himself with an effort, but Rhodey just slid one arm around his back and set the other hand at Tony’s neck, drawing him down into another kiss, making his jaw twinge just a little with that deep ache, but in a way Tony didn't mind, not one bit.  It was hard not to squirm his hips against him, but Rhodey was circling his hand against Tony’s hip, nudging him forward as if to encourage him.  Tony just curled his arms around Rhodey’s shoulders and leaned forward into the kiss, pressing close against him and letting his knees settle on either side of him.

 

Eventually the kiss ended, and Tony let his head sink down to Rhodey’s shoulder, gasping a little bit.  He almost jumped when Rhodey pressed his mouth to Tony’s ear and said, “Now what are we going to do for you, huh?” at the same time he curled his hand around Tony’s cock.  Tony was sure he made a strangled, choking noise, and his hips juddered up, and Rhodey just grinned and pressed a kiss under his ear and squeezed him, pulling up.  He had big, warm, capable hands, and he didn’t tease, just stroked Tony firm and easy, not slow and not fast.

 

“Oh, God, Rhodey,” Tony panted, trying not to thrust forward in a way that would just make it harder for Rhodey to stroke him.  “It’s gonna—if I come on you it’s going to make one hell of a mess,” he finally managed to get out, head swimming with the warmth of Rhodey’s hand wrapped around him, the pleasure washing through him from the oh-so-damn-welcome friction, heady and dizzying and he was glad Rhodey was holding him up because he needed it at this point.  It had been . . . a long time, or maybe it hadn’t been, but it _felt_ like a long time.  It felt good, anyway, the rush of pleasure and endorphins and all of it, it was . . . since he’d woken up, he hadn’t really been looking for it, so this was . . . this was nice.

 

But he couldn’t get carried away, not yet, because, well, Rhodey was wearing a nice shirt and slacks, not like Tony’s scruffy casual clothes, and it was damn hard to get semen stains out, it was just one of those things.

 

“That’s okay,” Rhodey said with a grin, but Tony shook his head, was about to pull off his shirt and use that before he remembered the RT and stopped with his hand curled in the fabric because what if . . . that freaked Rhodey out, or . . . it was kind of weird, wasn’t it?  He just sat there for a moment, frozen, and then Rhodey rubbed one hand up his back, and down again, squeezed his cock gently and then let go, reaching for his own shirt and undoing the buttons, and oh, yeah, if he was okay with that, Tony could do that.  He reached out, finished with the buttons and helped Rhodey shrug out of it, then Rhodey tugged off his own undershirt.  “This’ll work,” Rhodey said with a smile, and Tony nodded, drinking in his fill of Rhodey shirtless at the same time.  He reached out, ran one hand down over his chest, and smiled appreciatively at him.

 

“Looking good, ace,” he said.

 

“C’mon, Tony,” Rhodey said, but he sounded pleased, anyway, Tony thought.  He grinned back at Tony, at least, as he went back to stroking Tony’s cock, tucking the shirt around him as he did.  Tony figured that was good enough and let himself lean his head against the strong, warm muscle of Rhodey’s shoulder, panting, as the pleasure twisted tighter and tighter in his belly and Rhodey kept stroking him, and damn, he was close and he’d forgotten how this could feel, dizzying and intense and somehow twisted tight and frayed loose at the same time, and it was a little overwhelming, even if it was just a handjob at the end of the day.  It was a handjob from Rhodey, and it had been a while, and this was the first time he could remember since . . . he just didn’t want to get into that, but a while, for sure.  He clutched at Rhodey’s sides and hoped his hands weren’t too tight or too sweaty and tried to hang on and not pant or whine or moan too embarrassingly.  Whimpering would be kind of not great, right?

 

“Hey,” Rhodey said quietly, against his ear, and his hand came up to the back of Tony’s neck again, and squeezed, and he was holding Tony’s head to his shoulder and his hand was so, so warm on Tony’s dick and he’d wanted to last a little longer, but he just couldn’t, he was coming and coming, vision whiting out with pleasure as he smothered a cry in Rhodey’s shoulder.  He really did think he’d kind of blanked out for a second, before he came back to himself, face tucked in against Rhodey’s neck now as he panted for breath.  Rhodey was cleaning him up, swiping the shirt very gently against his cock, then he folded it up and slid his other arm around Tony’s back, and they just stayed there like that a minute, Tony not quite trusting himself to have his breath back yet, or to speak.

 

Eventually, he took in a breath, blew it out, raised his head.  Took another breath.  “Well, wow,” he said.  “That was something else.  Thanks, that was great, that was awesome.” 

 

He knew he sounded a little too bright and . . . and he was babbling a little, but he didn’t know how to stop himself, not until Rhodey stopped him easily with one hand on his back and said, “Sure was,” with a wide, affectionate smile that made Tony’s chest feel all warm from the inside out.

 

It was okay, if Rhodey was looking at him like that.  “Yeah?” he said, starting to smile at him.

 

“Yeah,” Rhodey said.  He reached down, pulled Tony’s briefs and sweatpants back up, tucking his cock back into them, then he ran his hand back up over Tony’s back again.  “That was great.”

 

“Thanks, for uh, letting me,” Tony said, because, well, he didn’t want to be too needy, or to make it weird, moving back a little and preparing to stand up, but Rhodey just pulled him back down with a little pressure on his spine. 

 

“Where you running off to, big guy?” he asked.

 

“Um,” Tony said.  “Well, I thought . . . .”  He wasn’t actually sure what he’d thought, now that he was trying to articulate it, so he shrugged.  “It’s pretty late.”

 

“By your standards?” Rhodey asked, raising his eyebrows.  “I dunno about that, man.”

 

Tony had to laugh at that.  “Yeah,” he said.  “You got me there.”

 

Rhodey leaned forward and kissed him, gently, and oh, _oh_.

 

“Wanna make out?” Tony tried, and Rhodey grinned against his lips.

 

Okay, that he could do.  Tony leaned forward and kissed him back, resting his hands on his shoulders again.  The kisses were easy and slow this time, soft and casual, and Rhodey slid his hands up along Tony’s thighs, rubbing at them slowly through the fabric of his sweatpants.  It was slow and easy, and by the time Tony pulled away again, it felt . . . good, everything felt good.  Everything felt great.  Like they were good. They were good. He smiled at Rhodey.

 

“Thanks, Rhodey,” he said, and meant it.  “You’re the best.”

 

Rhodey smiled at that.  “C’mon, Tony,” he said.  “Are you kidding me here?”

 

“No way,” Tony said.

 

Rhodey grinned a little, hitching one shoulder up and looking down, almost embarrassed.  “Tone,” he said.  “Okay, well, the same goes for you. You hear me? Same goes for you, man.”


End file.
